New Act on non-discrimination because of sexual orientation in force as of 1.1.2014 expanding the scope of protection against discrimination because of sexual orientation to cover all fields, not only employment and housing. Revision and harmonization of existing anti-discrimination legislation in force as of the same date

1) Increase protection of persons with disabilities against discrimination through ratification of the UN Convention, 2) establish the Equality and anti-discrimination Ombudsman as the supervising authority for the Convention

Interpretation based on Directive 2000/78/EC, whilst the directive is not formally a part of the EEA agreement

Introduction

The information contained on this page represents the situation as of 1 January 2014 and is a summary of the country report produced by the country expert from the network. The summary can be downloaded here as well.

Country context

Main principles and definitions

Norwegian anti-discrimination legislation addresses the following grounds of discrimination within all sectors: gender, ethnicity, national origin, descent, skin colour, language, religion or belief, sexual orientation and disability. Discrimination based on political views, membership of a trade union and age is covered within working life.

Enforcing the law

Cases alleging instances of discrimination may either be brought before an ordinary court or be brought to the national machinery set up to assess cases of discrimination: The Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud (the Equality Ombud) and the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Tribunal (the Equality Tribunal).

Main legislation

Norway has ratified most of the major international instruments combating discrimination, with the notable exception being Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Equality bodies

The Equality Ombud and its appeal body the Equality Tribunal constitute the administrative independent equality bodies set up to hear individual complaints to possible breaches of the non-discrimination legislation, The Ombud and Tribunal are a free low-threshold complaint system, and are alternative dispute mechanisms outside the judicial system, addressing cases of discrimination.